Sunday, December 27, 2015

"like the asthmatic struggling for breath, so the lover must struggle for words"

This may be a strange thing to ask, but do you guys believe in "soul mates"?

I will admit that I don't like the term, as it has been cheapened by the commercial romanticism and fairy tale endings our movie-loving society thrives on, but the concept of having a soul mate is nevertheless on my mind this morning. My friends and I spent a large part of last night at Applebee's, debating and discussing, out of all things, the possibility of predestination and true love.

We wondered, do soul mates exist? Could there be such a thing?

I personally do believe in soul mates. Maybe not in the traditional sense of the term, with the perfect romantic ending and overly mushy feelings, but I'd like to think that even in a world 7 billion souls strong, it's not too hard for the God of the universe to create a true love for me. I'm not saying I have significant Scriptural basis for this, but I have certainly seen it to be true in the lives of others.

Guys, I really do not mean to sound cheesy, or as if I base my life on feelings instead of seeking the Lord, but I like to believe that there is one special man out there for me out of all men, a special one that the Lord God has prepared.

"But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman', for she was taken out of man.'"~ Genesis 2:20b-23

God made Eve from Adam's rib. His rib! That's incredible to me -- his mate was formed out of a part of his own body. Wow! You know where I stand, but let me know what you think. Please share your thoughts! I am so curious to hear everyone's opinion on this!

8 comments:

I do believe in it but I also can't help but wonder about the people in unhealthy relationships or divorced parents. Did they miss out on their soul mate? Or did they never have a soul mate? Or was the person they married their soul mate but somehow a long the way they ruined it and didn't realize that was/is their soul mate? I don't know.

INTERESTING. I'm so glad you brought this up and I love that you phrased it as a debate! On one hand I totally agree with the idea that there is someone out there that God has purposefully in mind for you, because he's God. He can do that. But on the other hand, I feel like it wouldn't be right to limit Him to one person, either. Like, what if you screw it up and miss your "soul mate" window? I don't believe that means that you will never find love... I believe God can work around that and bring someone else into your life, in accordance to His will. I don't know...I don't know! Super interesting. I kinda feel like it goes along with our free will / choice somehow... like maybe He had this plan for us, and when we sin He simply changes the plan...

Okay see if this makes sense. God has one person in mind for you, one soul mate, but you won't know who they are until you marry them, because that's when they BECOME that person. When you marry someone, he becomes your husband - no one else is your husband, and even your husband wasn't called that until he married you. And maybe soul mates are the same way? Maybe it's not a title, but a commitment? I feel like my dad told me this once (but probably phrased it better.)

The soul mate "window" is definitely an interesting idea! I've wondered the same thing. Can your soul mate mess things up for you by picking the wrong person, and vice versa? I don't know. Then what about the people that "pick the wrong person" and have kids with that person? Are those kids mistakes? I don't believe so. It does hearken back to free will/choice, you're right.

GAH so many unanswered questions. But I'm not sure that just by marrying someone that they become your soul mate. My head hurts, lol

I do believe in soul mates, however I don't see soul mates as perfect relationship, romantic in every possible way. I think a soul mate is someone who can understand you withouth words, you can look at each other and know what the other one would probably say. Of course, not always but there are times when it's better than almost anything. Knowing and feeling that there is someone who always will be there for you. Maybe I'm wrong but I think a soul mate can be at the same time someone who means all the universe to you and someone who makes you the saddest person ever. Becasue it is not always perfect, life isn't perfect. But then at the end whatever will happen this person will still be there for you. I think I can proudly say I have founded my soul mate. There are things that connect us and divide us. We are different, but still soul mates. I think you also can kind of become soul mates, even if at the begining you were not. I could possibly talk about it for hours...

I totally agree with your first sentence -- I don't believe in a perfect, always romantic, super mushy relationship. Real life happens, ya know? So soul mates are certainly not perfect, that's for sure. But yes, me and my friends talked about this at length for quite some time...it's so fascinating!

Yes yes yes yes yes. and a million times yes. all this post i was reading along and inwardly nodding and wondering if you have been reading my thoughts. AND THE COMMENTS. GUYS THESE COMMENTS ARE LITERALLY. SO. GOOD.basically i don't have anything to say really except that i totally agree and have been pondering this very subject a lot recently.SO.GOOD.ok bye

Yeah, y'all's comment game was seriously sick. I loved hearing about what everyone thought! And I'm glad to know I'm not alone in thinking like this! A lot of my friends were pretty skeptical. Haha you are the best!

"But as I get older I realize there’s something to be said for the pleasant feeling of waiting for something of quality to become available to you. You could have something of lesser quality much faster, but as the high quality thing comes into fruition, a warm feeling grows inside you."